Arkansas House panel OKs bill limiting tanning

Arkansans younger than 18 would be unable to use tanning beds without a doctor's prescription under a bill passed through an Arkansas House committee Thursday.

Currently, anyone younger than 18 needs a parent's consent to use a tanning bed for nonmedical purposes. But a bill filed by Rep. Stephen Magie, D-Conway, would remove a parent's ability to give consent for their children to use a tanning bed.

Similar laws restricting minors' use of tanning beds exist in 15 other states and are being proposed in Arizona, Iowa, Montana, New Mexico and Oklahoma. A bill in Mississippi this year failed to make it out of committee.

Permitting a minor to use tanning equipment at a tanning facility would be a Class A misdemeanor. The law would apply only to commercial tanning salons; tanning beds in a person's home for private use would not be included.

The bill also stipulates that a child younger than 18 may get a doctor's prescription to use a tanning bed to treat medical conditions, which could include psoriasis or eczema.

Legislators voted 11-7 on Thursday to pass the bill through the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor committee.

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Other than a dermatologist who presented the bill with Magie, no one spoke for or against it. Voicemail messages left with tanning salons in central Arkansas were not returned Wednesday afternoon.

Joseph Levy, a scientific adviser for the American Suntanning Association who sent packets opposing the legislation to the Arkansas House, said Thursday that people younger than 18 tend to comprise about 5 percent of salon customers.

Magie sponsored the bill as a means of deterring young people from what he considers to be a harmful habit, while some legislators opposed the bill because they believed parents should be able to give consent.

"Tanning facilities -- although that sounds pretty benign -- they are carcinogenic, they cause cancer," Magie told the committee.

Exposure to ultraviolet radiation that comes from both the sun and tanning beds can increase risk of cancer, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is part of the World Health Organization.

Levy did not attend Thursday's hearing but said overexposure to sunlight and sunburn were greater issues than lower-light tanning beds when it comes to skin cancer. He said salons control how a person can tan and argued that the bill would just push people to tan at unregulated facilities, such as tanning beds at gyms or in apartment complexes.

Arkansas Dermatology Association President Brian Russell, a Conway doctor, said many people already emphasize using sunscreen to prevent skin cancer but that "oddly, we allow our children to get into tanning beds."

He noted that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had recommended banning children younger than 18 from using tanning beds. Targeting children will help prevent them from starting a tanning habit "at that vulnerable stage of life," he said, repeatedly comparing tanning to cigarette smoking.

"This bill will absolutely save lives in our state," Russell said.

Rep. David Meeks, R-Conway, asked how the law would be enforced and whether police officers would be required to check whether tanning salons were in compliance.

Magie said he didn't believe police would check regularly to see if tanning salons were complying, but said the bill raises awareness of the negative health impacts of tanning, particularly if salons start turning away people who are younger than 18.

"If they begin to turn down people under 18, then the younger kids are going to learn this isn't good for them," Magie said.

Meeks voted against the bill in the end, arguing that parents should still be able to have a say as to whether their children should be able to use tanning beds.

"Would I let my kid get into a tanning bed? Probably not," said Meeks, who has three sons.

"It's about freedom," he said.

Rep. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, said he didn't think the bill's language regarding doctor's prescriptions was clear enough, but he said he was also opposed to taking away a parent's ability to give consent for their children to use tanning beds.

"We have usurped that parent's right away," he said.

Voting in favor of the bill were Magie and Reps. Austin McCollum, Bruce Coleman, Ken Henderson, Justin Boyd, Mary Bentley, Jack Ladyman, John Payton, Chris Richey, David Branscum and Frederick Love.

Voting against the bill were Meeks and Hammer and Reps. Aaron Pilkington, Justin Gonzales, Robin Lundstrom, Richard Womack and Josh Miller.

Metro on 02/03/2017